Fatal North Las Vegas crash sends car into COVID information tent

North Las Vegas police are investigating a fatal Monday morning crash that sent a car into a COVID-19 information tent.

The wreck happened about 10:38 a.m. in the area of West Carey Avenue and North Martin Luther King Boulevard, police said in a news release. No one was in the information tent during the crash, police spokesman Alexander Cuevas said.

Police said a silver Honda Accord was headed westbound on Carey, approaching MLK at a high rate of speed, when it failed to stop at a red light.

The Accord slammed into the front of another car, a silver Mazda SUV, which was making a left from Carey onto northbound MLK on a solid green traffic signal.

Police said the impact sent both cars into a spin, with the Accord plowing into the COVID-19 information tent in an adjacent parking lot. The exact purpose of the empty tent was not clear. Cuevas said it was not a vaccine or testing site.

The driver of the SUV, a man in his 60s, was taken to University Medical Center, police said. The driver of the Accord, a man in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Impairment was not known to be a factor, but speed was, police said. Police asked that drivers avoid the intersection, which was shut down to traffic as they continued to investigate.

The coroner’s office will name the man who died after his relatives have been notified.